William N. Isaacs says,
“Dialogic leadership is the term I have given to a way of leading that constantly uncovers, through conversation, the hidden creative potential in any situation. Four distinct qualities support this process: the abilities to:
(1) evoke people’s genuine voices
(2) listen deeply
(3) hold space for and respect as legitimate other people’s views, and
(4) broaden awareness and perspective.
Put differently, a dialogic leader is balanced, and evokes balance, because he can embody all four of these qualities and can activate them in others.”
A pastor as a dialogic leader could stand to the side and allow people to take control of their church. People could see the potential Jesus has in each and every person. Dialogue has the potential to open up new avenues of Jesus’ leadership that is found in stories of the New Testament (e.g., the Macedonian call in Acts 16).
However, to practice dialogue in today’s church will require a re-tooling. New guides for conduct will need to be observed. Ellinor and Gerard suggest some new skills for us to learn. These skills include: suspension of judgment, suspension and identification of assumptions, regarding others as colleagues, listening, inquiry and reflection will require a patient, intentional process on our part.
In dialogue we are trying to create an atmosphere of openness. Being able to suspend our judgments (not do away with) for the sake of listening and learning from one another. The skill to learn is observation of judgments, both our own judgment as well as the judgment of others. As we begin to observe our own judgments it is possible to slow them down so that we are not simply reacting, but can instead begin to think creatively. A new creative thought process would focus on whole pictures while seeing the inter-relatedness and interdependency of the parts that make up the whole. Also a new creative process will give rise to partnerships where both/and thinking can move past the competitive either/or thinking.
